Tag: is injil corrupted

Recently I got what I thought was an excellent question. I reproduce it here.

Hi, can you clarify why there’s an according to Luke, according to John in Injil? As far as I understand the word according means an account inspired by that person based on his understanding.

Hence, I am interested in Gospel(s) according to Jesus pbuh but “not according” to Luke, John, etc. If you have a copy, I would be happy to get it from you.

I thought it was worthwhile to give an in-depth answer. Let’s think about the question and even re-phrase it a little.

What does the word ‘Gospel’ mean?

There are four Gospel books in the New Testament of al Kitab: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. What does it mean that these are ‘according to’ these different writers? Does it mean there are four different gospels (or injils)? Are they different from the ‘Gospel of Jesus’? Does it mean these are accounts ‘inspired by that person based on his understanding’?

It is so easy with questions like this to dismiss serious thinking because of our preconceived ideas. But to get a systematic answer, and one based on knowledge, we need to understand the word ‘Gospel’ (or ‘Injil’). In the original Greek (this is the original language of the New Testament see here for details) the word for Gospel is εὐαγγελίου (pronounced euangeliou). This word means a ‘message of good news’. We know this by seeing how it was used in ancient history. The Old Testament (Taurat & Zabur) were written in Hebrew (see here for details). But about 200 BC – before the New Testament – because the world of that day was becoming very Greek-speaking, a translation of Old Testament from the Hebrew to Greek was made by Jewish scholars of that time. This translation is called the Septuagint (see here for details on the Septuagint from my other website). From the Septuagint we can understand how Greek words were used in that time (i.e. 200 BC). So here is a passage from the Old Testament where εὐαγγελίου (‘good news’) was used in the Septuagint.

David answered Rekab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble,when someone told me, ‘Saul is dead,’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and put him to death in Ziklag. That was the reward I gave him for his news! (2 Samuel 4:9-10)

This is a passage when King David (Dawood) is speaking about how someone brought news of his enemy’s death thinking it would be good news to the king. This word ‘good news’ is translated εὐαγγελίου in the 200 BC Greek Septuagint. So this means that εὐαγγελίου in the Greek means the ‘good news’.

But εὐαγγελίου also meant the historic book or document that contained the ‘good news’. For example, Justin Martyr was an early follower of the Gospel (he would be exactly the same as a ‘successor’ to the companions of the Prophet (PBUH)) and an extensive writer. He used εὐαγγελίου in this way when he writes “… but also in the gospel it is written that He said…” (Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, 100). Here the word ‘good news’ is used to denote a book.

In the titles ‘The Gospel according to…’ the word εὐαγγελίου (gospel) has the first meaning of the word, while also suggesting the second meaning. The ‘Gospel according to Matthew’ means the Good News as recorded to a written account by Matthew.

‘Gospel’ compared to ‘News’

Now the word ‘news’ today has the same double meaning. ‘News’ in its primary sense means dramatic events that are occurring such as a famine or a war. However, it can also refer to the agencies like BBC, Al-Jazeera or CNN that report these ‘news’ items to us. As I write this, the civil war in Syria is making a lot of news. And it would be normal for me to say “I am going to listen to the BBC News on Syria”. ‘News’ in this sentence refers primarily to the events but also the agency reporting the events. But the BBC does not make up the news, nor is the news about the BBC – it is about the dramatic event. A listener who wants to be informed of a news event may listen to several news reports from several agencies to get a more complete overall perspective – all about the same news event.

In the same way the Gospel is about Isa al Masih – Jesus (PBUH). He is the object of the news focus and there is only one Gospel. Notice how Mark starts his book

“The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ…” (Mark 1:1)

There is one gospel and it is about Jesus (Isa – PBUH) and he had one message, but this message was written down by Mark in a book, and this book is also called a Gospel.

The Gospels – like haddiths

You can also think of this like in terms of haddiths. There are haddiths of the same event that come through different isnads or chain of narrators. The event is one thing but the chain of reporters can be different. The event or saying of the haddith is not about the narrators – it is about something that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said or did. The Gospels are exactly the same except that the isnad chain is only one link long. If you accept in principle that an isnad (after doing the proper checking that scholars like Bhukari and Muslim did) can accurately report the words and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), even if there can be different isnads through different narrators going back to the same event, why is it difficult to accept the one link or one narrator long ‘isnad’ of the gospel writers?It is exactly the same principle but the isnad chain is much shorter and much more clearly established since it was written down very soon after the event, not a few generations years later like the scholars Bukhari and Muslim did when they reduced the oral isnads of their day to writing.

Gospel Writers were not inspired by themselves

And the writers of these gospels were promised by Isa al Masih (PBUH) that what they wrote would be inspired by Allah – the writing is not from their human inspiration. It says so both in the gospels and the Qur’an

“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:25-26)

And behold I inspired the Disciples to have faith in me and mine messenger (Isa): they said, “We have faith, and you bear witness that we bow to Allah as Muslims (Surat 5:111 – Table Spread)

So the written documents they produced – the gospels we have today – were not inspired by them. They were inspired by Allah and thus deserve serious consideration. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John have always been (since they were written down in the first century) the gospel of Jesus – they were the reporters of it. Read their writings to read the message of Jesus (Isa – PBUH) and understand the ‘Good News’ he was teaching.

“Why should I even consider the books of the Bible? It was written so long ago, and has had so many translations and revisions done to it – I have heard that its original message was changed over time.” I have heard questions and statements like this many times about the books of the Taurat, Zabur and Injil that make up al Kitab or the Bible.

This question is very important and is based on what we have heard about al Kitab/the Bible. After all, it was written two thousand plus years ago. For most of this time there has been no printing press, photocopy machines or publishing companies. So the original manuscripts were copied by hand, generation after generation, as languages died out and new ones arose, as empires crumbled and new ones were born. Since the original manuscripts are no longer in existence how do we know that what we read today in al Kitab (the Bible) is what the original prophets actually wrote long ago? Apart from religion, are there any scientific or rational reasons to know whether what we read today is corrupted or not?

Basic Principles in Textual Criticism

Many who ask this do not realize there is a scientific discipline, known as textual criticism, by which we can answer these questions. And because it is a scientific discipline it applies to any ancient writing. This article will give the two main principles used in textual criticism and then apply them to the Bible. To do so we start with this figure which illustrates the process by which any ancient writing is preserved over time so that we can still read it today.

A timeline showing how all ancient books come to us today

This diagram shows an example of a book written 500 BC. This original however does not last indefinitely, so before it decays, is lost, or destroyed, a manuscript (MSS) copy of it is made (1st copy). A professional class of people called scribes did the copying work. As the years advance, copies are made of the copy (2nd copy & 3rd copy). At some point a copy is preserved so that it is in existence (extant) today (3rd copy). In our example diagram this extant copy was made in 500 AD. This means that the earliest that we can know of the state of the book is only from 500 AD onwards. Therefore the period from 500 BC to 500 AD (labeled x in the diagram) is the period where we cannot make any copy checks since all manuscripts from this period have disappeared. For example, if corruptions occurred when the 2nd copy was made from the 1st copy, we would not be able to detect them as neither of these documents are available to compare against each other. This time period before the existing copies (the period x) is thus the interval of textual uncertainty – where corruption could have happened. Therefore, the first principle of textual criticism is that the shorter this interval x is the more confidence we can place in the correct preservation of the document to our time, since the period of uncertainty is reduced.

Of course, usually more that one manuscript copy of a document exists today. Suppose we have two manuscript copies and in the same section of each of them is the following phrase (Of course it would not be in English, but I use English to explain the principle):

This shows a variant reading (one says ‘Joan’ and the other says ‘John’) but with only a few manuscripts it is difficult to determine which is the one in error.

The original author had either been writing about Joan or about John, and the other of these manuscripts has an error. The question is – Which one has the error? From the available evidence it is very difficult to decide.

Now suppose we found two more manuscript copies of the same work, as shown below:

Now we have four manuscripts and it is easier to see which one has the error.

Now it is easier to decide which manuscript has the error. It is more likely that the error occurs once, rather than the same error repeated three times, so it is likely that MSS #2 has the copy error, and the author was writing about Joan, not John. ‘John’ is the corruption.

This simple example illustrates the second principle in textual criticism: The more manuscripts that exist today the easier it is to detect & correct errors and know what the original said.

Textual Criticism of Historical books

So now we have two principles that of scientific textual criticism that are used to decide the textual reliability of any old book: 1) measuring the time between original writing and earliest existing manuscript copies, and 2) counting the number of existing manuscript copies. Since these principles apply to all ancient writing we can apply them to both the Bible as well as other ancient books, as done in the tables below (Taken from McDowell, J. Evidence That Demands a Verdict. 1979. p. 42-48).

Author

When Written

Earliest Copy

Time Span

#

Caesar

50 BC

900 AD

950

10

Plato

350 BC

900 AD

1250

7

Aristotle*

300 BC

1100 AD

1400

5

Thucydides

400 BC

900 AD

1300

8

Herodotus

400 BC

900 AD

1300

8

Sophocles

400 BC

1000 AD

1400

100

Tacitus

100 AD

1100 AD

1000

20

Pliny

100 AD

850 AD

750

7

* from any one work

These writers represent the major classical writers of ancient times – the writings that have shaped the development of modern civilization. On average, they are passed down to us by 10-100 manuscripts that are preserved starting only about 1000 years after the original was written.

Textual Criticism of Bible/al Kitab

The following table compares the Biblical (Injil in particular) writings along these same points (Taken from Comfort, P.W. The Origin of the Bible, 1992. p. 193).

MSS

When Written

Date of MSS

Time Span

John Rylan

90 AD

130 AD

40 yrs

Bodmer Papyrus

90 AD

150-200 AD

110 yrs

Chester Beatty

60 AD

200 AD

140 yrs

Codex Vaticanus

60-90 AD

325 AD

265 yrs

Codex Sinaiticus

60-90 AD

350 AD

290 yrs

Summary of Textual Criticism of Bible/al Kitab

The number of New Testament manuscripts is so vast that it would be impossible to list them all in a table. As one scholar who spent years studying this issue states:

“We have more than 24000 MSS copies of portions of the New Testament in existence today… No other document of antiquity even begins to approach such numbers and attestation. In comparison, the ILIAD by Homer is second with 643 MSS that still survive” (McDowell, J. Evidence That Demands a Verdict. 1979. p. 40)

A leading scholar at the British Museum agrees with this:

“Scholars are satisfied that they possess substantially the true text of the principal Greek and Roman writers … yet our knowledge of their writings depends on a mere handful of MSS whereas the MSS of the New Testament are counted by … thousands” Kenyon, F.G. (former director of British Museum) Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts. 1941 p.23

I own a book about the earliest New Testament documents. It starts with:

“This book provides transcriptions of 69 of the earliest New Testament manuscripts…dated from early 2nd century to beginning of the 4th (100-300AD) … containing about 2/3 of the new Testament text” (P. Comfort, “The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts”. Preface p. 17. 2001)

In other words, many of these existing manuscripts are very early, merely a hundred years or so after the original writings of the New Testament. These manuscripts come earlier than the rise to power of Constantine and the Roman church. And they are spread across the Mediterranean world. If some from one region were corrupted we would see the difference by comparing it with manuscripts from other regions. But they are the same.

So what can we conclude from this? Certainly at least in what we can objectively measure (number of extant MSSs and time spans between original and earliest extant MSS) the New Testament (Injil) is supported much more than any of the other classical writings. The verdict to which the evidence pushes us is best summed up by the following quote:

“To be skeptical of the resultant text of the New Testament is to allow all of classical antiquity to slip into obscurity, for no other documents of the ancient period are as well attested bibliographically as the New Testament” Montgomery, History and Christianity. 1971. p.29

What he is saying is that to be consistent, if we question the reliability of al kitab (the Bible) we may as well discard all that we know about classical history in general – and this no historian has ever done. We know that the Biblical texts have not been altered as eras, languages and empires have come and gone since the earliest existing MSSs come before these events. For example, we know that no pope or the Roman Emperor Constantine changed the Bible since we have manuscripts that are earlier than Constantine and the popes and all these earliest manuscripts contain the same accounts.

This is shown in the following timeline where the manuscript sources that are used in translating modern Bibles are shown to come very early.

Modern Bibles are translated from the earliest existing manuscripts, many from 100-300 AD. These source manuscripts come long before Constantine or other religious-political powers

To summarize, neither time nor Christian leaders have corrupted the original ideas and messages that were first placed into the original writings of al kitab or the Bible. We can know that it today accurately reads what the authors actually wrote from the many thousands of early manuscripts that we have today. The science of Textual criticism supports the reliability of al Kitab (the Bible).

Textual Criticism in university lecture

I had the privilege to give a public lecture on this topic at the University of Western Ontario in Canada not too long ago. Below is a 17 minute video of the part of the lecture that covers this question.

Thus far we have really only looked at the textual criticism of the New Testament – the Injil. But what about the Taurat and Zabur – the books that make up the Old Testament? In the following 7 minute video I summarize the textual criticism principles of the Old Testament.

This is a great question. The danger for all of us is that we can either ask it with a superficial answer already in our minds. “Of course Paul or one of the others corrupted it”, we can quickly answer without thinking too much about it, mostly because this is simply what we have heard. Or, we can think, “Of course not! What a silly idea”, again without really knowing why but mostly because we have been taught that way. This is the danger for all people who ask questions of sacred Books. We either dismiss it out-of-hand (because how we have been taught to think it not sacred) or we dismiss the question out-of-hand (again because of how we have been taught differently).

New Testament Writes other than Paul

With these considerations in mind I want to share my thinking and reasons on this question. Let us start with the writers aside from Paul. These writers were the disciples of Isa (PBUH) – his companions. They were the ones who followed him, listened to him, discussed with him, about the things that he did and said, both privately and in public. Some of them, such as John, Matthew and Peter were part of the inner circle of Isa’s 12 closest followers. They wrote eight of the books in the New Testament. Others, such as Mark, were among his wider circle of followers. The remaining authors (outside of Paul) were his brothers James and Jude. They grew up with Isa (PBUH) and James became the leader of the disciples in Jerusalem after the passing of Isa (PBUH) from this world. James, in fact, is mentioned in the Jewish historical writings of the 1st century AD. In that century there was a great Jewish military historian, Josephus, who wrote several books of history to the Roman Emperors of his day. In one of his books, writing of events in Jerusalem in the year 62 AD (32 years after the passing of Isa) he writes of how James, Isa’s brother, was martyred by his fellow Jews. Here is how he puts it:

“Ananus [the high priest] was rash and followed the Sadducees, who are heartless when they sit in judgment. Ananus thought that with Festus dead and Albinus still on the way, he would have the opportunity. Convening the judges of the Sanhedrin [the Jewish ruling council] he brought before them a man named James, the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ, and certain others. He accused them of having transgressed the law, and condemned them to be stoned to death” Josephus. 93 AD. Antiquities xx 197

Josephus is explaining that in 62 AD Ananus had just been made high priest in Jerusalem and there was a political confusion. Ananus used the opportunity to condemn James to death. His father (also called Ananus) had sentenced Isa (PBUH) to death about 30 years before and Ananus the son quickly took the opportunity to do the same with James. Thus James was a target for his years of leadership in Jerusalem with the followers of Isa al Masih (PBUH) his brother in Jerusalem.

What does the Qur’an say about these disciples of Isa (PBUH)?

So it is these men who wrote the books in the New Testament other than Paul’s books. To judge whether they corrupted the Injil we can first turn to the perspective given in the Qur’an. When I do that I find the following ayat:

When Jesus found Unbelief on their part He said: “Who will be My helpers to (the work of) God?” Said the disciples: “We are God’s helpers: We believe in God, and do thou bear witness that we are Muslims. Our Lord! we believe in what Thou hast revealed, and we follow the Apostle; then write us down among those who bear witness.” (Surat 3:52-53 – Al-Imran)

And behold I inspired the Disciples to have faith in me and mine messenger (Isa): they said, “We have faith, and you bear witness that we bow to Allah as Muslims (Surat 5:111 – Table Spread)

These ayat tell us quite plainly that the disciples of Isa (Jesus – PBUH) were a) Isa’s helpers, b) Allah’s helpers, c) and inspired by Allah to have faith in Isa. These disciples spoken of here in the Qur’an include none other than Matthew, Peter and John who wrote eight of the books in the New Testament, two of which are gospel books (Gospels of Matthew and John). And Mark, the disciple in the wider circle, wrote a third gospel. It would seem that if one believes in the Qur’an that one would also then have to accept the writings of these disciples. These writers certainly could not have corrupted the Injil. When we study the written gospels we are reading the writings of the disciples which are confirmed by the Qur’an. Paul did not write any Gospel account, rather he wrote sacred letters.

Now where I live in Canada few people readily believe that there are any books by Allah. Just because something is written in Qur’an or Bible (al kitab) does not mean that they would accept it. In fact they prefer secular historical sources because, in their eyes, they are less biased. But even from that point-of-view we have seen, from the writings of the historian Josephus quoted above, that there is a solid basis to accept the writings of James, and by extension, his other brother Jude.

So we find, whether from secular sources or from the Qur’an, logical reasons to accept the books of the New Testament that are not Paul’s.

The Witness of Isa (PBUH): the Taurat and Zabur are the first standards

But what about Isa himself? What did he give as the testimony we should accept? Notice where he appeals for a correct and uncorrupted witness to himself and his message.

Here we see that Isa PBUH (who is speaking) is using the Taurat (Book of Moses) to correct error among the experts in Jewish Law (Sharia)

“Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!” Mark 12:26-27

And here we see that Isa (PBUH) starts with Taurat and then continues with Zabur (‘Prophets and Psalms’) to teach about his role as the Masih.

He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27)…

He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. (Luke 24:44-45)

And here we see that Isa again starts with Taurat (Moses’ writings) as the basis to judge the role of the Masih.

If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?” (John 5: 46-47)

So we can see that Isa (PBUH) himself first appeals to Moses (which is the Taurat), then the Prophets and Psalms (which is the Zabur) to explain the role and purpose of the Masih. This is the reason I decided, both in my search, and now in this website, to start with the Taurat. If you look at the articles on the Signs of Adam, Cain&Abel, Noah, Lut, Ibrahim 1, 2, and 3 etc. you will see that the passages that support these articles all come from Taurat (and the Qur’an).

We are on safe ground if we start with the Taurat – Isa (PBUH) himself told us to. Here we are learning Signs that will help to unlock the mystery of the Injil. Then we will take what we have learned and compare it with the writings of the brothers and disciples of Isa – again staying on safe ground.

Considering Paul

And what about Paul’s writings? What are we to make of them? Once we have studied the Taurat and Zabur and learned the Signs that Allah has definitely sent us, and then when we have studied the books of the disciples and brothers of Isa (PBUH) we knowledgeable enough so that if we turn to Paul we will notice if what he writes is different from what we have already studied. Without this background knowledge of the ‘safe books’ to inform us, it is impossible for us to really know if what Paul wrote is corrupted or not. But to keep our search on safe ground we will not start with Paul because his credentials are not unquestionable.

When I lived in Algeria I was surrounded by Arabic speakers and heard Arabic all the time. But because I did not know any Arabic I was not capable of deciding if what I heard was ‘correct’ Arabic or ‘corrupted’ Arabic. The limitation to make this judgment was in me – not the speakers around me. I did not have enough knowledge to be a good judge. A few years ago I took a course in Arabic. All people from all sorts of positions told me that the person giving this course spoke ‘correct’ Arabic. His reputation told me I could trust him as a ‘correct’ teacher. Starting from this course – that I knew was correct – I began to learn a bit of Arabic. Unfortunately I was not able to continue, but if I had, I could see that one day I could be in a position to decide if other people spoke ‘correct’ Arabic or ‘corrupted’ Arabic – because I would now have an informed basis from which to judge.

We are using exactly the same safe process to develop a solid understanding of the Signs of Allah, starting from which everybody says is ‘correct’ (Taurat), and then the disciples, to develop the basis to better judge if something else (like Paul) is corrupt or not. The danger for all seekers of the Straight Way is that we either accept too easily as revelation that which should be rejected, or that we discard too quickly the books that Allah intends that we learn from. Proceeding in this way, in humility and prayer before Allah, asking for His guidance, will make sure that we fall into neither error and thus stay on the Straight Path.

I am sometimes asked why if there is only one Injil are there four Gospel books in al Kitab (the Bible), each written by a different human author? Would that not make them of fallible (and contradictory) human origin and not from Allah?

The Bible (al Kitab) says about itself:

“All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

So the Bible/al Kitab makes the claim that God is the final author since He inspired these human authors. And on this point the Qur’an is in full agreement as we saw in the post on what the Qur’an says about the Bible. We also saw here that Isa al Masih promised his disciples guidance from the Spirit of Truth when they would testify about the Injil.

But how to understand the four Gospel books for the one Injil? In the Qur’an there are often several passages that recount one event, and taken together allow us to have a fuller picture of that event. For example, the scriptures for the Sign of Adam used Surat 7:19-26 (The Heights) to tell us about Adam in Paradise. But it also used Surat 20: 121-123 (Ta Ha). And this 2nd passage gave an extra understanding of Adam by explaining that he was ‘seduced’, which The Heights does not include. Taken together they gave us a more complete picture of what happened. And that was the intent – to have the passages complement each other.

In the same way, the four Gospel accounts in the Bible (al Kitab) has always and only been about one Injil. Taken together they give a fuller understanding of the Injil of Isa al Masih – PBUH. Each of the four accounts has some material that the other three do not. Therefore, taken together they offer a more complete picture of the Injil.

This is why when the content of the Injil is talked about it is always in the singular, because there is only one Injil. For example we see here in a quote from the New Testament that there is one single gospel.

I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11-13)

This is how the Gospel is referenced in the Holy Qur’an as you can see in my article The pattern of ‘Gospel’ in the Qur’an. But when we speak of the witnesses or the books of the gospel there are four. In fact in the Taurat, a matter could not be decided by the testimony of only one witness. The Law required a minimum of ‘two or three witnesses’ (Deuteronomy 19:15) to testify about the one particular event or message of interest. By providing four witness accounts the Injil was supported above the minimum requirements of the Law.

Isn’t that like the Holy Qur’an coming in Chinese though the Prophet (PBUH) spoke Arabic?

This is a great question. And probably there is another one along with it. Though we are asking ‘why’ we are also wondering if this in some way also negates or contradicts the idea that Allah inspired the Injil. Because after all, this is different from how the Holy Qur’an was revealed. So let`s discuss this in several steps.

First the analogy to Chinese-Arabic is not really accurate. There is no real historical relationship between Chinese and Arabic. Thus, revealing a Book in Chinese to an Arabic society would result only in nonsense. No doubt Allah does have the power to do such a thing miraculously, but it would result in a book that no one could understand – even the Prophet (PBUH) himself. And then the message of the Book would be useless, it would quickly be ignored (because it was not understood) and in a generation it would be forgotten – along with the memory of the prophet. No, a prophetic message, if it is to have an impact on society (and this is the reason a message is sent to a prophet in the first place) must be understood by that society.

The intent behind the revelation of the Holy Quran was to give a warning in Arabic. The following ayat tells us that:

We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’an, in order that ye may learn wisdom. [Surah 12:2 Joseph]

Thus We have revealed it (Qur’an) to be a judgment of authority in Arabic… [Surah 13:37 (the Thunder)]

Thus have We sent by inspiration to thee an Arabic Qur’an: that thou mayest warn the Mother of Cities and all around her,- and warn (them) of the Day of Assembly, of which there is no doubt: (when) some will be in the Garden, and some in the Blazing Fire [Surah 42:7 (Consultation)]

We have made it a Qur’an in Arabic, that ye may be able to understand (and learn wisdom). [Surah 43:3 (Luxury)]

Yusuf Ali commentary on Ayah 7 of Surat 42 (Consultation) says that the ‘Mother of Cities’ is the City of Mecca and that “The point of the Qur’an being in Arabic is that it is plain and intelligible to the people through whom and among whom it was promulgated” (#4533). So the purpose of was to give a warning so that Arabs, especially those in Mecca could be warned, learn ‘wisdom’ etc. And for that to happen it had to be in Arabic.

But the Injil was a message not only to the Jews, but to all peoples. In the time of the Prophet Isa al Masih (Jesus – PBUH) the world was basically Greek-speaking. Because of the conquests of Alexander the Great some three hundred years before, most of the world (including the Romans who ruled in the time of Isa PBUH) had adopted the Greek language. A rough analogy exists today with English. Because of the past colonial power of Great Britain the international language of the world today is English. The major power in the world today (USA) adopted the English language because of Great Britain and thus English is almost universal. As one result, I, though Swedish origin, am writing this blog in English because my English has become better than my Swedish and I know that you could probably not read a Swedish blog.

The Greek language was also adopted by the Jews of that day so most were bi-lingual. In fact, the Jews started to use Greek so much that they translated the Taurat and Zabur into Greek about 200 years before Isa al Masih (PBUH). This translation is known as the Septuagint. The Septuagint became widely read by Jews and even by non-Jews of that day. Please see here and here from my considerthegospel blog to learn more about the Septuagint. The bottom-line effect of the Septuagint was that the Holy Books were read more in the Greek than in the original Hebrew by the time of the prophet Isa al Masih (PBUH)

Isa al Masih (PBUH) may have spoken some Greek himself because we find in the Injil several times where non-Jewish Greeks and Romans spoke with him. However, he would have spoken in Aramaic to his disciples (companions) because that was the natural language of Galilean Jews of that day.

But the writers of the Injil were definitely bi-lingual and thus fluent in Greek. Matthew was a tax collector by profession and thus was working with Greek-speaking Romans regularly; Luke was a Greek and thus Greek was his first language; John Mark was from Jerusalem (Al Quds) and thus was a Greek-speaking Jew; and John was from a wealthy family (thus educated) and lived for much of his life outside Palestine and thus was fluent in Greek.

They were transmitting the message of the Injil to the world. Therefore, to make sure that the world of that day would understand it they wrote in Greek. Because the Taurat and Zabur make the Injil clear (as I show in my post on the signs of Injil in the Qur’an) the writers of the Injil frequently quote from Taurat/Zabur and when they do so they quote from the Septuagint (the Greek Taurat/Zabur). We know from history that this message did indeed explode across the Greek-speaking Middle Eastern world. This shows it was almost expected to have scripture read in Greek in that day.

So this answers ‘why’ it was in Greek. But could Allah still inspire these writers when they write down in a different language what Isa al Masih (PBUH) had said earlier in another language even if they were bilingual? Isa al Masih (PBUH) himself had promised that Allah would send guidance to them. Here are excerpts from a private discussion he had with his disciples just before his departure recorded in the Gospel of John. You can read the entire discussion by clicking here.

15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth….25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you…“When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning….I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. … and he will tell you what is yet to come.

So the promise was that the Counsellor, the Spirit of truth, would guide them in their writing and testifying so that what they wrote would be true. 2 Timothy 3:16 explains this further:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The point here is that what they wrote would be guided and indeed inspired by Allah himself so that the word they wrote would be ‘God-breathed’. Thus the message would be safe and trustworthy – inspired by Allah.

So the way the Injil was revealed and made known was indeed different from how the Holy Qur’an was revealed. But does that make it wrong, worse or obsolete? I think to answer that we need to recognize that Allah has the right and the power to do different things in different ways. Because the Prophet Musa (PBUH) received the Commands on Mount Sinai on tablets of stone that were written by the finger of Allah, does that mean that all later prophets must also receive their message from Him on stone tablets? And only on Mount Sinai? Because the first prophets were Jewish does that mean all prophets must be Jewish? Because the Prophet Noah (PBUH) warned of a coming Judgment by water does that mean all judgments of Allah are by water? I think we would have to answer ‘no’ for all these questions. Allah has the power and the right, according to his sovereignty, to choose different prophets, methods and means to do His will. Our part is to decide whether the message is really from Him or not. And since the Holy Qur’an itself declares that the Injil was inspired by Allah, and Isa (PBUH) promised this same inspiration and guidance (per above) it would be foolish for us to argue otherwise.

In summary, the Injil was written in Greek so that it would be understood by the wider world of that day. A promise was given that Allah would give guidance and inspire the disciples when they wrote the Injil – and this is confirmed by the Qur’an declaring that this was inspired. This method of revelation is different from how the Holy Qur’an was revealed but it is not up to us to tell Allah what His limits are. Throughout human history He has used different methods, prophets and means to communicate His message.

We have seen what the Qur’an says about the Taurat, Zabur & Injil of the Bible (al kitab). We read that the Qur’an states clearly that the followers of Injil still possessed the message from Allah at the time of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), around 600 AD – so it was not corrupted before that date. The Qur’an affirms that the original message in the Injil were Allah’s Words, and that His Words can never be changed. If both of these statements are true it means that it is impossible for people to corrupt the Words of al kitab (Taurat, Zabur and Injil = Bible)

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the Bible

We continue this study by noting what the hadiths and sunnah say on this topic. Notice how the following hadiths affirm the existence and use of the Taurat and Injil in the time of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

“Khadija [his wife] then accompanied him [The Prophet – PBUH] to her cousin Waraqa …, who, during the PreIslamic Period became a Christian and used to write the writing with Hebrew letters. He would write from the Gospel in Hebrew as much as Allah wished him to write.” Al-Bukhari Vol 1, Book 1, No 3

Narrated Abu Huraira: ..The people of the Scripture used to read the Torah in Hebrew and explain it to the Muslims in Arabic. Then Allah’s Apostle said, “Do not believe the people of the Scripture, and do not disbelieve them, but say, ‘We believe in Allah and whatever has been revealed…’ Al-Bukhari Vol 9, Book 93, No. 632

The Jews came to Allah’s Apostle and told him that a man and a woman from amongst them had committed illegal sexual intercourse. Allah’s Apostle said to them, “What do you find in the Torah about the legal punishment of Ar-Rajm (stoning)?” They replied, “(But) we announce their crime and lash them.” Abdullah bin Salam said, “You are telling a lie; Torah contains the order of Rajm.” … the Verse of Rajm was written there. They said, “Muhammad has told the truth; the Torah has the Verse of Rajm. Al-Bukhari Vol. 4, Book 56, No. 829:

Narrated Abdullah Ibn Umar: ..A group of Jews came and invited the Apostle of Allah (PBUH) to Quff. … They said: ‘AbulQasim, one of our men has committed fornication with a woman; so pronounce judgment upon them’. They placed a cushion for the Apostle of Allah (PBUH) who sat on it and said: “Bring the Torah”. It was then brought. He then withdrew the cushion from beneath him and placed the Torah on it saying: “I believed in thee and in Him Who revealed thee.” Sunan Abu Dawud Book 38, No. 4434:

Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Apostle of Allah (PBUH) said: The best day on which the sun has risen is Friday; on it Adam was created, …. Ka’b said: That is one day every year. So I said: It is on every Friday. Ka’b read the Torah and said: The Apostle of Allah (PBUH) has spoken the truth. Sunan Abu Dawud Book 3, No. 1041

These are undisputed hadiths that tell us of the attitude of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to the Bible as it existed in his day. The first hadith informs us that the Injil existed and was available when he first received his call. The second hadith tells us that the Jews read the Taurat in Hebrew to the early Muslim community. The Prophet (PBUH) did not dispute their text, but was indifferent (neither confirming nor denying) to their Arabic interpretation of it. The next two hadiths tell us that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) used the Taurat as it existed in his day to arbitrate decisions. The last hadith shows us that the Taurat, as it existed in that day, was used to verify a statement from Prophet Muhammad himself about the day of creation of man (it was on a Friday). In this case, the Taurat was used to check the saying of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) himself, so it must have been accepted as authentic for such an important use. In none of these hadiths, do we see any hint that the text of the Bible is treated as corrupted or changed. It is used as is for important applications.

Earliest manuscripts of Injil (New Testament)

I own a book about the earliest New Testament (Injil) documents. It starts with:

“This book provides transcriptions of 69 of the earliest New Testament manuscripts…dated from early 2nd century to beginning of the 4th (100-300AD) … containing about 2/3 of the new Testament text”(P. Comfort, “The Text of the Earliest New Testament Greek Manuscripts”. Preface p. 17. 2001 ).

This is significant since these manuscripts come before Roman Emperor Constantine (ca 325 AD) who some have thought might have altered the text of the Bible. If Constantine had corrupted it we would know it by comparing the texts before his time (since we have them) with the texts that come after him. But there are no differences.

Similarly, these and other Bible copies were made long before the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). These and other thousands of manuscripts all from before 600 AD come from diverse parts of the world. Since the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in 600 A.D. used the Bible as it was in his time as authentic, and we have many Bible copies today made hundreds of years before the Prophet lived – and they are the same as today’s Bible, then the Bible certainly has not changed.

The idea of Christians changing these texts makes no sense at all. It would not have been possible for them everywhere to agree on the changes to be made. Even if those in Arabia had made changes, the difference between their copies and those of their brothers, let us say in Syria and Europe, would become obvious. But they are the same across the world, and back in time. Since the Qur’an and hadiths both clearly support the Biblical text as it existed in 600 AD, and since the Bible is based on manuscripts that come long before this time, then the Bible of today is not corrupted. The timeline below illustrates this, showing how the text base of the Bible pre-dates 600 AD.

The earliest manuscipts copies of the Taurat and Zabur date from even earlier. Collections of scrolls, known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, were found in 1948 by the Dead Sea. These scrolls make up the entire Taurat and Zabur and they date from 200-100 BC. This means that we have copies of the Taurat that date even before both prophets Isa al Masih (PBUH) and Muhammad (PBUH). Since they both publicly used and approved the Taurat and Zabur that they had (which was the same as the Dead Sea Scrolls we have today) we have assurance that these first books of the prophets were also not corrupted. I explore what all this means about the reliability (or unchangedness) of al kitab from a scientific point-of-view in my article here.

The testimony of the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) in the hadiths, along with background knowledge of the manuscripts of the Bible, point to the same conclusion as the testimony in the Qur’an – the text of the Bible has not been corrupted or changed.

I have many Muslim friends. And because I am also a believer in Allah (God), and a follower of the Injil (Gospel) I usually have regular conversations with my Muslim friends about beliefs and faith. In a real sense there is so much we have in common. Yet almost without exception in my conversations I hear the claim that the Injil (and zabur and Taurat which make up al kitab = Bible) is corrupted, or has been changed, so that the message we read today is degraded and full of errors from what was first inspired and written by the prophets and disciples of Allah. Now this is an important complaint, since it would mean that we cannot trust the Bible as read today to reveal Allah’s truth. I read and study both the Bible (al kitab) and the English translation of the Holy Qur’an, and have started to study the Sunnah. What I find startling is that this attitude against the Bible, though so common today, I do not find it in al Qur’an. In fact, it startled me how seriously the Holy Qur’an takes the Bible. I want to briefly show what I mean. (In English I use Yusuf Ali’s translation of the Holy Qu’ran)

What the Qur’an says about the Bible (al Kitab)

Say: “O People of the Book! ye have no ground to stand upon unless ye stand fast by the Law, the Gospel, and all the revelation that has come to you from your Lord.” It is the revelation that cometh to thee from thy Lord, that increaseth in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. Surah 5:68 Maida (The Table) (See also 4:136)

If thou art in doubt as to what We have revealed unto thee, then ask those who have been reading the Book from before thee: the Truth hath indeed come to thee from thy Lord: so be in no wise of those in doubt. Surah 10:94 Yunus (Jonah)

I note that this declares that the revelation given to the ‘People of the Book’ (Christians and Jews) came from Allah. Now my Muslim friends say this applies only to the original revelation given, but since the original has been corrupted it does not apply to the scriptures of today. But the 2nd ayah talks about those who ‘have been reading’ (in the present tense not past tense as in ‘had read’) the Bible. It is not talking about the original revelation, but the scriptures from the time when al Qur’an was revealed. This was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) over a period of years around 600 A.D. So this passage approves the Bible (Taurat, Zabur and Injil) as it existed in 600 A.D. Other passages are similar. Consider:

And before thee also the apostles We sent were but men, to whom We granted inspiration: if ye realise this not, ask of those who possess the Message. Surah 16:43 An-Nahl (the Bee)

Before thee, also, the apostles We sent were but men, to whom We granted inspiration: If ye realise this not, ask of those who possess the Message. Surah 21:7 Al-Anbiya’ (The Prophets)

These speak of the apostles that preceded the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). But, crucially, they affirm that the messages given by God to these apostles/prophets were still in possession (at 600 AD ) by their followers. The revelation as originally given had not been corrupted by the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) time.

The Holy Quran says that Allah’s Words cannot be changed

But in a stronger sense, even the possibility of al kitab’s corruption/change is not supported by the Holy Quran. Keep in mind Maida 5:68 (The Law …The Gospel … is revelation that has come from the LORD), and consider the following:

Rejected were the apostles before thee: with patience and constancy they bore their rejection and their wrongs, until Our aid did reach them: there is none that can alter the words (and decrees) of Allah. Already hast thou received some account of those apostles. Surah 6:34 Al-An‘am (Cattle)

The word of thy Lord doth find its fulfilment in truth and in justice: None can change His words: for He is the one who heareth and knoweth all. Surah 6:115 Al-An‘am (Cattle)

For them are glad tidings, in the life of the present and in the Hereafter; no change can there be in the words of Allah. This is indeed the supreme felicity. Surah 10:64 Yunus (Jonah)

And recite (and teach) what has been revealed to thee of the Book of thy Lord: none can change His Words, Surah 18:27 Al-Kahf (The Cave)

So, if we agree that the prophets preceding Muhammad (PBUH) were given revelation by Allah (as Maida 5:68-69 said), and since these passages, many times over, say very clearly that no one can change Allah’s Words, how then can one believe that the words of Taurat, Zabur and Injil (i.e. al kitab = the Bible) was corrupted or changed by men? It would require a denial of the Qur’an itself to believe that the Bible has been corrupted or changed.

As a matter of fact, this idea of judging various kinds of revelation from God as better or worse than others, though widely believed, is not supported in the Qur’an.

Say ye: “We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma’il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them: And we bow to Allah (in Islam).” Surah 2:136 Al-Baqara (The Cow) (See also 2:285).

So there should be no difference in how we treat all the revelations. This would have to include our study of them. In other words, we should study all the Books. In fact I urge Christians to study the Qur’an as I urge Muslims to study the Bible.

To study these books takes time and courage. Lots of questions will be raised. Surely though this is a worthwhile use of our time here on earth – to learn from all the books which the prophets have revealed. I know that for me, though it has taken time and courage for me to study all the Holy Books, and it has raised many questions in my mind, it has been a rewarding experience and I have felt Allah’s blessing on me in it. I hope you will continue to explore some of the articles and lessons on this website. Perhaps a good place to start is the article on what the haddiths and the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) thought about and used the Taurat, Zabur and Injil (the books that make up al kitab = the Bible). The link to this article is here. If you have a scientific interest in how the reliability of all ancient books are determined, and whether the Bible is considered reliable or corrupted from this scientific point-of-view see the article here.